Let Compassion Start on Streets of Skid Row

Re “Police Continue Homeless Sweeps on Skid Row Despite ACLU Suit,” Feb. 21: In the dawn of the morning, the L.A. police ordered homeless people to pack their meager belongings and move on. Under Ordinance 41.18(d) they are prohibited from sitting, lying or sleeping in public places. With not enough homeless shelters to house these poor people, where are they supposed to go? This is an unforgivable attack on humanity.

Whatever tragic event in their lives has caused these people to be homeless, they deserve to be treated with dignity. If we have billions to liberate the Iraqi people, as President Bush’s propaganda claims we will do, we must show the world that our compassion starts at home.

Garret Came

Alta Loma

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Congratulations to the L.A. City Council for lacking the creativity and energy to develop effective solutions to one of the city’s worst problems. By enforcing this law, City Hall chooses the Police Department to beleaguer a profoundly resource-deprived population. It is laughable that City Councilwoman Jan Perry “morally cannot support” [people living on the street] (Feb. 20). Her statement implies that poverty is an immoral choice rather than the effect of an absent support system.

Concerning the “dangerous situation out there” obtusely observed by the city attorney’s office, please explain this: How does fining someone who has no ability to pay the fine reduce crime and create safer streets?

Yes, it is the responsibility of the police to enforce the law, but it is also the responsibility of the elected leadership to address the circumstances surrounding homelessness. Arresting a homeless person overburdens an already crowded jail and delays the inevitable -- a return to the streets. Instead of wasting taxpayer money on enforcing 41.18(d), identify additional opportunities for urban development that include short- and long-term shelters, affordable housing, job development and access to preventive health care.

Sonia Solin

Los Angeles